UPDATE: Bank of America Reiterates Buy Rating, Raises PT on Chipotle Mexican Grill as Valuation is Expected to Move Higher

In a report published Wednesday, Bank of America analyst Joseph T. Buckley reiterated a Buy rating on Chipotle Mexican Grill CMG, and raised the price target from $525.00 to $600.00. In the report, Bank of America noted, “We continue to rate CMG shares Buy and are raising our price objective from $525 to $600 as we expect valuation to move higher into a 45x-50x P/E range. This higher valuation range ties to our projections for EPS growth in excess of 20% in each of the next two years, faster than what we view as a long term growth rate of 20%. Our confidence is based on an accelerated sales trend with same store sales up mid-single digits driven entirely by traffic, the likelihood of Chipotle surpassing its targeted number of openings again this year, and pricing plans for 2014 that seem more probable to be executed.” Chipotle Mexican Grill closed on Tuesday at $527.93.